“It’s an award that we’ve even been nominated,” says McCoy, who has worked in the Nell’s beverage program for 3 1/2 years. “We’ve always had a great wine program. It’s nice to get national recognition up here in the mountains, because sometimes it’s out of sight, out of mind.”

And kudos, too, to Denver’s own Adrian Miller, who is a finalist in the “research and scholarship” division for his book, “Soul Food: The Surprising Story of an American Cuisine One Plate at a Time.”
We interviewed Miller in 2013 about the book, which covers everything from collards to “red drink.”

“I’m thrilled to be considered for such a prestigious award, especially since Soul Food is my first book,” Miller says. “Seeing my name on the nominee list is very cool and unexpected. I was really hoping to hear my name being announced, but the livestream of the nomination announcement froze just before they got to my category.” D’oh!

The Little Nell was the only one of the seven Colorado semi-finalist nominees in the restaurateur-chef categories to make the cut to the finals. That means some talented chefs, bars and restaurateurs were overlooked in the Centennial State. Six semi-finalists from Denver included Jorel Pierce of Euclid Hall for Rising Star Chef of the Year, Yasmin Lozada-Hissom of Spuntino for Outstanding Pastry Chef, Alex Seidel of Fruition for Best Chef Southwest, Jeff Osaka of Twelve for Best Chef Southwest, Frank Bonanno (Mizuna, Luca d’Italia among others) for Outstanding Restaurateur, and Williams and Graham for Outstanding Bar Program.

I’ve eaten at all their places, and their fare is superb, which says tons about the quality of the finalists.

The ultimate awards and ceremony will be held in New York City on May 2 and May 5.

The other four finalists for Outstanding Wine Program are A16, San Francisco; Bar Boulud, New York City; The Barn at Blackberry Farm, Walland, Tenn.; and FIG in Charleston, S.C.